“You’re finally here.”

The woman waved her hand and dismissed the polite greeting of the two Marecasio, then sat down in front of them. Their intentions were obviously unimportant to her.

“I see that you two did something useless,” she remarked.

“…”

Although the two Marecasio disregarded even the emperor of the Roman Empire, Helmond and Caravan did not even dare to raise their heads in front of the woman.

“And it looks like you two made a fun toy to play with as well. Looked just like me. It must have taken some effort to find a child like that,” she continued.

“That’s…”

“I’m not trying to blame you, so there’s no need to be nervous,” she said with a smirk. It was a smile that seemingly contained both innocence and wickedness. As such, it made her look even more mysterious.

“I heard everything,” she said.

“…”

“Finally managing to come up with something, and it was simply borrowing the power of a dragon?” She continued.

“Mother… He… He is far too strong and dangerous. Without a dragon, there was nothing that—”

“Why do you think the Beholder lent you power?” she asked.

“…” The two Marecasio promptly closed their lips. It was an impossible scene considering who they were and how much power they held. However, simultaneously, it was inevitable for the two Marecasio to act so deferently toward her.

The girl in front of them was their mother—the being responsible for their rebirth as members of the Dark Clan.

“I think it was to prevent the imperial family from collapsing, which they erected with their own hands.”

“You’re half-right,” The girl responded.

“…?!”

“The Beholder wanted to use him to bring about a transformation,” she said.

“Transformation… Are you talking about the imperial family?” Helmond asked.

She responded with another smile, “You still cannot see the bigger picture. Do you really think the Beholder would become directly involved thinking only about the imperial family?”

“…”

“It’s the whole world,” she added.

“…!”

The two Marecasio were visibly shocked by her words, but she didn’t even spare them a glance. Instead, she continued while nibbling on morsels of green grapes. “The Roman Empire is nothing more than just a passing wind for the Beholder. It’s just one of thousands or even tens of thousands of currents in life. If it were you two, would you care about such a thing?”

“…”

“The reason why the Beholder lent strength to your little game was to make a change in the world. And from the looks of it, it was rather successful,” she added.

“Successful… meaning?”

“The tribe is uniting around him,” she responded.

“…!!!”

Caravan and Helmond were greatly shaken, even more than when she first arrived.

“At the least, all those who are in Rome will stand under his flag. Soon, the flames will spread to other countries as well, and thousands may soon come together,” she said.

“Don’t tell me—he’s planning to establish a nation formed from the members of the tribe…” Helmond muttered with shock.

“What? Ahahahahaha!” The girl’s clear laughter baffled Caravan and Helmond. However, she wasn’t mocking them. Rather, it was a laughter of pure amusement. “Oh, sorry, sorry. But that was too funny.”

She wiped the tears on the edge of her eyes while smiling at the two. It was almost as if she was looking at two adorable children.

“Our tribe. No. A nation could indeed form from a gathering of a certain race, which could well be our own, just as you say. Well, most of them did form nations, so your guess isn’t necessarily wrong,” she explained.

“…”

“But tell me. Based on what you two have seen so far, is he someone interested in becoming a king or an emperor?” she asked.

“…!”

“It would be the same for me or for either of you. Even if you were told to build a nation after gathering all the members of the tribe, you would find it annoying. No, you might even run away. Likewise, he is a curious one, but he hates bothersome things,” she continued.

“...”

“Anyway, I’m trying to say that he’s not trying to establish a nation of our tribe,” she added.

“Then, why…”

“You may say, But, Mother, the world along with us will still consider it as such. That… will be the change in the world you have been talking about, Mother.”

“Yes. A change.”

Her smile grew wide. The moment she smiled, she no longer looked like a girl. She displayed a decadent yet sensual smile, like that of a temptress. Although her appearance remained the same, she did not seem like the same person.

“To have a race united as one would present great fear to those who previously feared the race. They will be afraid. They will want to eliminate them and destroy them using any means possible,” she said.

“That’s right. It’s the reason why the nobles of the imperial castle called for the imperial army even without us stepping up—”

“Since everyone has gathered in one place, it will be easier to destroy them, right?” she asked.

“...!!!”

“Why? That’s how you hunt, right? To herd animals to a specific place is the basics of hunting,” she added.

“D-don’t tell me…” The two Marecasio were in disbelief.

She nodded with a more seductive smile. “The tribe will be hunted.”

“That’s impossible!” Caravan roared and sprung to his feet. His anger caused the tattoos on his face to move as if they were dancing.

“Who would dare to make enemies of our tribe?”

“Does it make you angry?” she asked.

“Isn’t that obvious? Why else have we stayed so long with the imperial family? It was all because of our mission to lead the revival of the tribe and proudly incorporate our members into the world. Moreover, the eldest children of the tribe have already received titles from the empire. They are reigning over humans. And that is just the—”

“Reign?”

The atmosphere surrounding the girl turned icy all of a sudden. Although she hadn’t invoked her Fear, she was emitting a formidable force.

The eyes of the two Marecasio quivered. Their mother was fickle, and this was proof of her fury.

“Is receiving a title from the emperor of humans and lazing around haughtily what you call reigning?” she asked.

“Mother…”

“You are domesticated dogs…” The girl pointed out.

“…!!!”

“Tell me. What do other races, especially humans, call us? The Tribe of Blood and Fear. The Ruler of the Night. But tell me. Are you lot ruling the night in blood and fear?” she asked.

“…”

“Human beings are still afraid of the tribe. However, the source of their fear, at least in Roman, comes from the status of the children. Am I wrong?” she asked.

“…”

The two Marecasio dropped their heads. They could not dispute her words. Humans weren’t very afraid of the vampires’ fangs. The majority of the tribe owned slaves to feed from, and they would suck the blood of those plump, well-fed slaves. Such slaves received good treatment, so there were quite a few commoners who volunteered themselves for the role.

In addition, slaves were also considered to be members of the clans their masters belonged to, so even nobles could not act recklessly toward slaves belonging to vampires of powerful clans. Of course, there were instances where vampires had hurt or sucked the blood of ordinary people.

Such beings were executed by the clans. Either their fangs were removed, or for lower-ranking vampires, they were exposed to sunlight. That was the law set by the tribe. Therefore, humans were no longer so afraid of vampires.

The fear humans felt toward vampires was derived from an instinctive rejection toward vampires from a long time ago. Indeed, no one feared vampires because they harmed or killed people, at least in the Roman Empire.

“There is no such thing as reigning for domesticated dogs. I don’t know what you are thinking, but I certainly think so,” she said.

“…”

Caravan and Helmond remained silent for a while. Judging from her words, it seemed her anger was somewhat relieved. Unlike Caravan, who was quick-tempered, Helmond was rather cautious and thoughtful.

After a moment of thought, Helmond raised his head and looked at his mother.

“Please allow me to ask you a question,” he said.

“Yes,” she answered while smiling like a cheerful girl once more.

Helmond opened and closed his lips a few times as if he was hesitating, but he eventually spoke, “The reason you left, Mother… Was it because of what you just said?”

“…!”

Caravan was startled. He understood the implications of Helmond’s words.

The girl gazed into Helmond’s eyes for a moment, then gave a proud smile. “You’ve grown, haven’t you? Well, it would have been problematic if you remained the same after all these years.”

She nodded while looking around at her two children. “That’s right. I left because I could not stand seeing my children as domesticated dogs.”

“Why did you not say anything back then? If you just said something, Mother…” Helmond asked.

“Rome is your playground. There’s nothing more ridiculous than trying to stop children from playing,” she answered.

“...”

“Then why… why did you only return just now?” Caravan grumbled. Helmond remained quiet with a brooding expression.

An alluring, seductive, yet cold smile appeared on the lips of Lefersha Toidora Ventroa Eugene.

“No child would be absent when their parent is visiting. Since the father is coming, the daughter should wait.”

***

“What kind of person was I in the Demon World?” Eugene asked.

What was this all of a sudden?

Georg was caught off guard. In the past ten days, Eugene only gave curt answers and had never asked him any questions. Georg stared at Eugene with a surprised expression for a moment, then answered with a grin, “Didn’t I tell you? The Demon King of Blood. You were one of the great demon kings.”

“Kieeeeeh! Exactly what I might—I’ll keep my mouth shut,” The spirit started shouting excitedly from Silion’s mane, but she had to quietly hide in the thick hair.

“Not something so broad. You should know, right? What I did and what my reputation was like,” Eugene explained.

“There’s nothing much. Devils like us usually don’t pay attention to what other devils do,” Georg answered.

“You said you were a proposer and a mediator. Does someone with such a grand nickname propose and mediate without knowing anything?” Eugene pointed out.

“You’re sharp.” Georg took on a truly evil, insidious smile. He coughed before explaining, “You were curious. I heard you often explored. I often encountered those who knew your name but didn’t know what you looked like. From their point of view, it was only natural for them to be angry with a devil unknown to them snooping around their land.”

“Hmm. And so?” Eugene asked.

Georg continued, “And so what? It looks like you were exactly the same in this place. You never forgive those who attack you first. That’s how we did things in our world. The devils you defeated must be in the hundreds, and that includes two of the top ten devils as well.”

“Top ten? So the ten strongest devils?” Eugene asked.

“Well, I’m not really sure who is actually stronger since there’s no reason for them to fight. But you actually did fight against them,” Georg responded.

“Hooh? And the result?” Eugene asked. Even though they were stories about him, they were very intriguing. He couldn’t help but be curious when he heard that he fought against two of the ten strongest devils.

Georg stared at Eugene with a dumbfounded look.

“Are you asking because you really don’t know?”

“…?”

“You’re walking around just fine in this world. Doesn’t that answer your question?”

“Ah…” Eugene smacked his lips with embarrassment.

Georg grinned. “Well, that doesn’t mean they died, or they disappeared. Rather, they got pummeled, and their forces weakened as a consequence. It took decades for them to recover to the level they were at before, so it was pretty considerable”

“Their forces weakened?” Eugene asked.

“Isn’t it obvious? Demon King, Great Demon King—those who are called as such have more than just one or two subordinates serving them. They live by the authority and fear bestowed upon them by their monarchs. Since the two were weakened after being defeated, their subordinates were naturally affected as well. Other devils considered to be in the top ten, as well as those below the tenth, attacked those you defeated.”

“So the goblin sows while the orc reaps…” Eugene muttered.

“Is it a proverb of this world? Anyway, that’s exactly it. You destroyed them, but others benefited. Ah, except for those who were defeated, they…”

Georg continued excitedly, and Eugene listened with interest. Most of the stories were new to him. It felt as if he were listening to the stories of a stranger. Even so, most of his past actions aligned with how he would have acted as the current Eugene.

Eugene continued to listen while occasionally reacting appropriately for almost an hour. Georg became more excited and started talking about all sorts of things after seeing that Eugene was paying great attention to him. In the end, he even started talking about stories that had almost nothing to do with Eugene.

Eugene was slowly getting tired of listening to Georg, but he still maintained an interested expression and reacted at appropriate times. After all, he had a purpose for doing so.

After a while, Eugene suddenly asked, “So, why did I make a passage and come to this world?”

Georg giggled and excitedly blabbered, “Oh, isn’t that obvious? It was because of your curiosity. Out of curiosity to explore a different world, you even threw away your title as the Demon King. The others in the top ten were normally afraid of you, so they didn’t spare their efforts in cooperating with you. To make sure you could never return—”

Georg suddenly became quiet. Then, he muttered with a sigh, “Fuck… This is why you shouldn’t talk to vampires for a long time…”